Happy Valentine’s Day, a little early

Got up this morning, hit “Cereal Creative” at the Urban Hive, where we perform the Friday morning ritual of munching on Cap’n Crunch and quaffing coffee while ruminating the question of the day. Today, it was something like a three-parter: first movie you remember a parent taking you to (Dumbo), first move you remember paying for (a matinee of A Hard Day’s Night, which turned out to be some random and turbodorky Jerry Lewis movie instead, which sent me bawling home to mom because the theater owner was a prick and wouldn’t give us our money back, so I think my mom gave him enough shit in return that night that he let us both in for free), and first movie to affect you profoundly (I said A Clockwork Orange, senior year of high school, Christmas Day, altered state). I should have been truthful and said the original Ocean’s Eleven, but didn’t want to tip my hand.

Anyway, last night, after an evening meditation in my favorite public rose garden, facing my favorite iconic palm, I rode over to a coffeehouse to check my e-mail, saw that my friend Cher had pinged me regarding an opening at Apex Gallery, so I headed over there in time for a slice of pizza, some nice artgrokking and a fine set of my style of DJ-ing, which involved artist Peter Stegall, some old jazz, country and jump blues 78s, and a 78 r.p.m. record player; none of that Pauly D “beating up the beat” nonsense for this codger.

At one point, Cher pulled me aside and reminded me to be positive. “You’re so smart and creative,” she said. “But when you put that dark, brooding stuff out there, people just go ‘meh.’ Try being positive and see what comes back to you.” So then I rode over to the Verge Gallery to catch the last part of that space’s pre-opening, and someone came up to me, unsolicited, and said some very nice things about some stuff I’d written. And I’ll admit that I’ve learned how to smile and say “thank you” when someone offers me a compliment. It makes me feel quite good, really.

So, well, I’ve been busy, partially on a new creative project that excites me very much, and partially on the whole FAWM project. For that, I’ve written six songs and am in the middle of penning a very sweet and songwriterly seventh. In the interest of keeping a positive vibe going, I won’t post the lyrics of the dark Elvis Costello-style ballad I wrote the other night, but here are the lyrics for the one that followed, a very nice and melodic pop paean to riding and walking. It’s called “Leave Your Four Wheels Behind”:

Bicycle, riding my bicycle
Down the leafy streets of my hometown
On two wheels, loving how this breeze feels
As I pedal my way around
The neighborhood, running into lots of good
People and new friends I’ve found, hey

Park your car, check out the street bazaar
It’s a people-watching paradise
So much art, feels good to be part
Of community this size
And vibrancy, it all seems so right to me
Best part, no one has to drive

Time to leave your four wheels behind
It’s a changing world we live in now
Those things we used to do are out of fashion
Burning gasoline
When just as easy we could walk or ride, don’t have to drive, so

Hold my hand as we walk through this landscape
Past houses, stores and restaurants
Ain’t it grand, somebody’s booked a band
They’re about to play some songs
Or we can go, there’s a quiet place I know
In the rose garden beyond

Time to leave your four wheels behind
It’s a changing world we live in now
Those things we used to do are out of fashion
Burning gasoline
When just as easy we could walk or ride, nobody has to drive, it’s

Time to leave your four wheels behind
It’s a changing world we live in now
Those things we used to do are out of fashion
Burning gasoline
When just as easy we could walk or ride, nobody has to drive, it’s

Time to leave your four wheels behind
Time to leave your four wheels behind
Time to leave your four wheels behind

Outside, it’s really beautiful. I’m feeling pretty good. An astrologer might tell you that it’s because Venus is about to conjoin my Moon, or the Sun is opposing my Pluto, or Jupiter just passed over my Moon-Mercury conjunction, or Uranus is passing over my Descendant into my Seventh House, or there’s a New Moon in my Fifth House (all this weekend), but I tend to think it’s just because I’m feeling pretty darn good and upbeat. At any rate, it’s far too beautiful out there to stay indoors typing.